Regardless of where you are in your fitness journey, it’s never too early or too late to start eating in order to build and sustain muscle. Whether you’re working out to lose weight, want to tone up, or want to start bodybuilding, building muscle is important to a balanced fitness routine and healthy body. Any fitness journey can be challenging, but by being well-informed, you’ll find it much easier to reach your goals. Improving your diet is an important part of any fitness journey, so learn how to eat to benefit your body. Follow these tips and make gaining muscle as simple as possible.
Plenty of protein
The biggest key to building defined muscle is to eat plenty of protein. A quick answer to this aspect of your diet is to start drinking protein shakes. They’re a great way to get a huge dose of protein, especially before or after your workout. Focus on lean red meats, eggs, chicken, nuts, and even cottage cheese. If you’re eating a plant-based diet, it’s still certainly possible to get enough protein without eating meat. Learn what foods pack the biggest protein punch.
Avoid junk food
Just because some food has high amounts of protein, doesn’t mean it’ll help you build muscle. As you aim to intake more carbs, protein, and calories to sustain your workouts, that doesn’t mean you can fill the rest of the calories with pure junk food. Think about what you’re putting into your body and what nutritional value there is in it.
Find ideal times
One of the best times to eat a large amount of protein is directly after your workout. This window is the perfect time for your protein shake. As you train, you’ll break down your muscles and cause small tears, which can be repaired with amino acids found in proteins. The best time to get a high dose of protein is either about two hours before or after your workout – or both!
Eat more
As you start working out more intensely, you’ll simply need to eat more to sustain the energy your body is using. You’ll need to take in more calories, even if you’re focusing on losing weight. Like I mentioned above, at this point, it’s important to focus on the nutritional value of what you’re eating instead of pure numbers. Eating junk food that has the same caloric content is going to affect you differently than a balanced meal.